Summary

Ciro runs to meet the black carriage approaching the piazza with his mother and brother Eduardo inside. She is dressed just the same as she was 26 years earlier when they parted; she is still the same thin beauty, albeit with gray hair . What’s different is her tremor and obvious anxiety. Ciro puts his head on her shoulder and cries, “Mama.” Then Eduardo emerges in his Franciscan brown habit, and the brothers embrace.

Ciro pulls out an envelope with the cash proceeds from sale of the mining stock and hands it to Caterina. Then he unfolds the etching of his father’s gravestone made by Enza and gives it to his mother. She folds the etching carefully and hands the envelope back to her son. “Keep this for my grandson and kiss him for me,” she says. She gives him a...